Nebraska Postgame Notes/Quotes vs. Purdue

Nebraska Postgame Notes

• Nebraska played its first overtime game of the season and its first overtime contest since Jan. 2, 2022, when the Huskers lost to Ohio State.
• Nebraska held Purdue to a season-low 0.99 points per possession. Purdue entered the game leading the nation in offensive efficiency (1.18 ppp).
• Nebraska’s bench outscored Purdue’s bench 23-15. The Huskers’ 23 bench points came after Nebraska got just nine bench points in its previous two games combined.
• The Huskers pulled down 44 rebounds against one of the top rebounding teams in the country. Nebraska is the first team to record 40 rebounds against Purdue this season, and entering today, the Boilermakers had allowed only 41 rebounds in their previous two games combined.
• NU had a season-high 19 offensive rebounds, its highest total since recording 21 offensive boards at Illinois on Feb. 2, 2019.
• Despite playing an extra five minutes, Nebraska had a season-low nine turnovers in the game.
• NU limited Purdue to 39.7 shooting from the field, snapping the Boilermaker’s streak of eight consecutive games shooting 44 percent or better.
• Nebraska had a 10-0 run in the second half, which tied for the longest run by a Purdue opponent this season.
• Purdue’s 20 free throws were the most by a Husker opponent this season, as entering the game no Husker opponent had attempted more than 15 free throws in a game.
• Keisei Tominaga scored 19 points off the bench to lead the Huskers in scoring for the team-high third game this season. Tominaga has scored in double figures off the bench seven times this season. Tominaga was 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, marking his fifth game this season with at least three 3-pointers.
• Derrick Walker posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Walker, who has scored in double figures in a career-best eight straight games, produced his third double-double in six games this season and sixth of his career. Walker was 7-of-13 from the field.
• Emmanuel Bandoumel had a season-high four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points, reaching double figures for the sixth time this season and the second game in a row.
• Purdue’s Zach Edey was held to a season-low 11 points, snapping a streak of eight straight 20-point games

Nebraska Coach Fred Hoiberg
On guarding Zach Edey
"Zach Edey, I think eight games in a row he had 20 or more points, so it speaks to the effort of our guys, following the gameplan and having discipline on that end. I thought our rotations for the most part were crisp. We had a couple guys similar to Indiana that had not been shooting the ball well that hit shots against us. Fletcher Loyer had a heck of a game and (Branden) Smith made those free throws down the stretch. That's the other thing. We gave up those points at the line and miss two one-and-ones and another one after that. Six points you just take off the board right there, not being able to knock down the free throws. Again, our effort allowed us to stay in the game. Our guys kept swinging, kept fighting and kept battling and did it together. That's what i'm most proud of.
 
On NU’s defense improvement
"These guys have really bought into that side of the ball, and I think that's become the identity of this team. When the ball doesn't go into the hoop a lot of times it's hard and demoralizing to stay in the game. But our guys, we shot 32 percent and still had a chance to win the game. Purdue in the second half shoots 29 percent, and again that's the best offensive team in the country right there. Our guys are doing it on that end and it hasn't matter if the ball is going in, they've continued to fight and that's what's given us the chance to win. Unfortunately we didn't shoot it very well today but we kept fighting and battling and that's the thing I'm most proud of with this group is how they've bought in on that side of the ball."
 
On previous Hoiberg-coached teams with defensive identity
"I think a couple of our Iowa State teams had great toughness to them. We were third in DER one year in Chicago where we had a team that really bought into that identity. This team here is obviously the best defensive group and that was a big part this offseason was trying to get guys that had length and a toughness factor to them that came from winning. You look at Sam (Griesel), he's played in the NCAA tournament. Juwan (Gary), who I really thought fought out there and battled foul trouble was part of an SEC championship team. Emmanuel (Bandoumel) has played in the postseason. It was important to get guys like that and I do think that's the reason for the defensive identity this group has."
 
On needing one shot down stretch
"I thought we had some really good looks. I give our guys credit for continuing to go after the ball on the offensive glass and continue to get looks. We had some really good opportunities. I thought Kesei (Tominaga) may have turned down one and dribbled into a floater but that's a shot he can hit. Unfortunately that just didn't go down. 
 
On Keisei's game-tying shot
"He stepped up and hit a great one for us and sent it into overtime. He isn't afraid of the moment as you guys have seen and that's why I thought when he rose up to take the last shot it was going in because he made that one in overtime and really had a nice rhythm going there."
 
On his thoughts of his team so far
"Pretty much everything that I thought about this time is what I saw. We have a week now. Finals' week is an important week for our guys and we didn't take a day of last week because of our schedule. We'll take tomorrow and Tuesday off and then we'll take three days to prep heading into a really talented Kansas State team in Kansas City at the Sprint Center. Everything I thought about this team was what I saw in this past week against three top-ten opponents.
 
On his message to the team
"There's no moral victories and that's the thing about this group is there was a lot of dejection in the locker room. At the same time, the way they went out and battled, if we do that every night we're going to have a chance to have a heck of a year. That's what I told them is walk out of here with your head high. We'll get some things fixed. Again, we haven't had a lot of practice time. It's been getting back late, putting in the gameplan and going a little live the next day and play. We have to be a little careful about taking their legs away in practice so we get a good opportunity to get back on the practice floor and clean some things up this week."
 
On Sam Griesel performance
"You could see he was a little gassed out there. The one he got fouled on I was asking him if he needed a timeout and he said no he was fine. But you could see he was winded out there and he hasn't done much the last two days of practice. So for him to play 37 minutes after the illness he had just shows you how much of a warrior he is."

Senior Guard Emmanuel Bandoumel
On how Nebraska battled despite the loss
“There’s two parts to this loss. The one part, we did what we could and controlled what we controlled by keeping (Zach) Edey out of the game. Attacking them and finding ways to score, Keisei going off a bit, we followed the game plan and we battled for all 45 minutes. It’s something we’ve been talking about for a while, being consistent with everybody's effort and matching everybody's energy and I thought we did a great job of that tonight.”
 
On the shift of emphasis on defense for Nebraska 
“It’s something that we’ve tried to change, for the culture for Nebraska. It was more of an offensive game but now people are seeing that we are a two-way team, and we play defense. That’s what we need in the Big Ten, defense wins championships, it's cliche but it's a real saying. If we keep working at it like we did tonight, Purdue is the most efficient team in the whole nation. To keep them to 65 points, it says a lot about what we are doing and have been trying to work on all year long. It's our identity and we need to keep working at it and not make it easy for any teams.”
 
On what his message was to the team down 10 at half
“Hit the reset button. The first half is gone, there’s nothing we can do about it. Everybody responded to that, and we did everything we could when we came out to protect the home court.  I think we did a pretty good job of battling back into the game.”


Nebraska Forward Derrick Walker 
On how frustrating the missed shots in the last few minutes was
“It’s very frustrating to not see the ball go down and win that game. I’m proud of our team for even putting ourselves in those positions to even be able to take the last shot. I think we did everything we needed to do towards the end of the game to put ourselves on top. Some things didn’t go our way. We fought, and we fought hard. We made some shots when we needed them. I can’t be mad at those guys for not hitting shots. I missed some layups. None of us are perfect. I’m proud of my whole team.”
 
On how they were able to erase the 14-point deficit
“We aren’t going to get down on ourselves. We have been through adversity all year. A 14-point lead is not the big of a lead. In the game of basketball, that’s a few possessions. We know that. What we do in those situations is just focus on our defense. We just stick our heads down on defense and we do what we can until we see the scoreboard change.”
 
On the overall atmosphere of this game
“It was amazing. Probably one of the better games that we’ve had with our crowd attendance. It was amazing. To me, it just means that the fans are really honing in on us this year and they are excited for what we can be. They’ve been impressed with what we’ve done. If we can keep that up, we will have a really special year. We love the crowd and they mean a lot to us.”  


Purdue Coach Matt Painter
On the end of the game and how his team responded
“It was good, Braden Smith made his free throws down the stretch. I know Fletcher (Loyer) made some nice plays. We also thought we had a call go against us in regulation when we were trying to get open. They had a call go against them, when we were trying to dribble the ball up the court (in overtime). It was one of those crucial plays in that moment, and it really helped us being able to get those free throws that time. We’re trying to foul there at half, and we don’t get the foul. They had the long possession where they had like five offensive rebounds, and they didn’t get anything. Maybe Derrick (Walker) ended up getting a layup out of it, but you gotta get those rebounds. It’s one of those games where you got it at a good point, and they have a scheme in what they’re gonna do. I thought they did a really good job with it. I thought we did a really good job of it; we just didn’t make open shots. That’s life on the road. Can you find a way to win a game when you don’t shoot the ball well? Nebraska deserved to win the game as much as we did.”
 
On Fletcher Loyer’s performance
“Fletcher wanted the ball. You get in that and the crowd gets going… Nebraska's fans are great. We hadn’t been in these environments, these hornets' nests, and he wanted the ball. Some of those pull ups he made, he could’ve ended it in regulation, thought Braden (Smith) made a great pass on that drive for him to get that three. Fletch was great, never seen him dunk before.”
 
On where and how Nebraska has improved
“They defend. They play defense. When you guard and make it stingy on people, you’re gonna get some turnovers from that. When you do your job constantly, you stay connected. When you have a guy or two that breaks down all the time, doesn't matter what the other three guys do, they're gonna find them. The guys that they have, they're bought into it. Fred’s a great coach, they run outstanding stuff. Very hard to guard and gameplan for. Derrick is so good at wheeling and dealing, he's making some jump hooks over a 7-foot-4 guy who had 7 blocks in the game. I know offensively they do some good things, but their improvement is because of the defensive end. It just kills your morale, when guys break down defensively because you work so hard, and they're not breaking down that much. They deserved to win that game as much as we did. They’re gonna beat some people. They’re not beating some people here, they’re gonna beat people on the road too.”
.
NU Athletic Communications